It is well known in the fishing arts, especially where tournament fishing is involved, that there is a need to quickly determine whether a particular fish meets size limits required by game and fish authorities and to quickly determine which of a number of fish have the greatest weight. For example, where a bass tournament is conducted in which "keeper" bass must be at least sixteen inches long and the tournament rules require a total catch limit of ten bass, there is a need to quickly determine whether or not a particular bass meets the length requirement for the tournament and which are the ten bass having the greatest weight of all the bass caught.
The typical prior art fish weighing apparatus is a scale upon which the weights of the several fish can be determined and recorded for comparison with other fish. This process is time consuming because the fisherman is required to determine the actual weight of the various fish for comparison purposes. A more appropriate apparatus would be based on a balance beam which would allow the fisherman to eliminate the step of comparing actual weights by allowing the balance apparatus to indicate the heavier fish.
Balance beams are also well known in the art, as can be seen by reference to U.S. Pat. Nos. 215,477; 591,202; 3,404,743; and 3,354,971. U.S. Pat. No. 215,477 is for a weigher for an assayer which includes a beam with hook members at either end for determining the weight of gold and silver. U.S. Pat. No. 591,202 is for a scale-beam combination. U.S. Pat. No. 3,404,743 is for a rather complex balance device which includes elaborate detailed parts for precise measurement in an automatic balancing system. U.S. Pat. No. 3,353,971 is for an equal arm balance with an improved sheet metal beam. The prior art apparatus for determining the length of the fish is simply a conventional ruler.
Neither the ruler nor the prior art balance apparatus is sufficiently efficient for tournament fishing because the conventional balance beam is awkward and because multiple steps and multiple devices are required.